CELEBRATING A MILESTONE

Coakley & Williams Construction celebrated a milestone in the progression of The Falls Church Anglican project, located on the busy Arlington Boulevard (Route 50) in Fairfax County, Virginia. We held the structural steel topping out ceremony with our employees and members of the Falls Church Anglican. Over 100 people attended the commemoration to witness the raising of the last 500 lb. steel beam, signed by all of those present.

Rector John Yates had a few words before the topping out, stating, “You men and women who are building this building for us, I just want to tell you, it’s not just a building. We want to prayerfully dedicate this project in a formal way. Would you put you all put your hands on the beam? As a way of our sort of personal contact with the building.” Everyone present gathered over the beam, and bowed their heads while the Rector announced, “The builders and the engineers and the designers, we thank you for them and we pray for your protective watch over them as this building is completed.”

NEW TRADITIONS

In traditional topping out ceremonies, attendees will usually sign their names or initials on the steel beam in permanent ink as a way to make their mark on the project. In this case, the project owners, representatives, construction team, supervisors, tradesmen, architects, church members and employees all wrote an applicable bible verse on the beam, before raising it in ceremony and placing it on upon the steel structure.

The church members have patiently waited for their new church home to be built. Ella Mulligan has been with the church since 1974 and was in attendance at the topping out ceremony. She stated, “I’ve seen it since we were a parish all the way until now. I’m looking forward to worshipping in one house again.”

Currently, the church uses several different rooms in their headquarters building to be able to hold services for all of their members while their new home is under construction, even if in separate spaces. Unique to this specific project, The Falls Church Anglican headquarters office is directly adjacent to the site, where church employees are able to have an advantageous bird eye’s view of the undergoing construction, due to be completed in the coming months.

Coakley & Williams Construction Assistant Project Manager, Pasha Zand, says, “We are motivated to completing the project on-time even with all of the weather impediments, and we are challenging ourselves to do just that.” With the structural steel erection, we are getting ready to start closing-in the building, getting water-tight, and now roof/deck installation will begin.

(The Falls Church Anglican jobsite was closed during this Topping Out Ceremony, therefore attendees were not required to wear full PPE.)